Hartmut Bagger (17 July 1938 – 26 January 2024) was a German general. He served as Chief of Staff of the German Army from 1994 to 1996 and

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the German armed forces, the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

, from 1996 to 1999.

Biography

Hartmut Bagger was born in

Braunsberg Braniewo () (, , Old Prussian: ''Brus''), is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital of Braniewo County. Braniewo is the second biggest city of ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

(today Braniewo,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) and fled the advancing

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...

. After passing his Abitur Bagger volunteered the

in 1958 as a

Panzergrenadier (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning ''Armoured fighting vehicle, "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is the German language, German term for the military doctrine of mechanized infantry units in armoured fo ...

. In 1960 he was promoted to a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

at the Panzergrenadierbataillon 82 in

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

. Bagger passed his general staff training at the

Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr The Bundeswehr Command and Staff College (, ''FüAkBw'') is the General Staff College (''Senior Military Academy'') of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, established in 1957 as the successor of the Prussian Military Academy, founded in 181 ...

in 1969–1971, promoted to a

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

he served at the Panzerbrigade 18, (

Neumünster Neumünster () is a city in the middle of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. With more than 79,000 registered inhabitants, it is the fourth-largest municipality in Schleswig-Holstein (behind Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg). The ''Holstenhallen'' and ...

) and became a lecturer of Military policy at the Führungsakademie. He completed a course at the

Armed Forces Staff College The Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), located in Norfolk, Virginia, was established as the Armed Forces Staff College in 1946 and incorporated into the National Defense University in August 1981. It educates and acculturates joint and multinat ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. From 1976 to 1978 Bagger commanded the Panzergrenadierbataillon 51 in

Rotenburg an der Fulda Rotenburg an der Fulda (, ; officially ''Rotenburg a.d. Fulda'') is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, in central Germany, situated, as the name says, on the river Fulda (river), Fulda. Geography Location The town ...

and served at the Bundesministerium der Verteidigung until 1980. From April 1980 till September 1982 Bagger, now an

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

, was the Chief of staff of the 3. Panzerdivision and afterwards head of the branch "Security policy" at the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Führungsakademie, from October 1984 till April 1988 he commanded the Panzergrenadierbrigade 7 (Hamburg). Bagger was promoted a

Brigadegeneral Brigadegeneral (; , ) is the Germanic variant of Brigadier general. Belgium The rank of (; ) is used by the Belgian Land Component, Air Component and Medical Component. File:Army-BEL-OF-06.svg, Land Component File:BE-Air Force-OF6.svg, Ai ...

in 1988 and served as the Chief of Staff at the III. Korps (

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

) until 22 November 1990 and commander of the 12. Panzerdivision (

Veitshöchheim Veitshöchheim () is a municipality in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Main, northwest of Würzburg. Veitshöchheim has a population just under 10,000. It includes two villages: Veitshöch ...

) until March 1992. Bagger became the deputy Inspekteur des Heeres (Chief of Staff of the German Army) on 1 April 1992 and Inspekteur des Heeres on 21 March 1994. After general

Klaus Naumann Klaus Naumann (born 25 May 1939) is a retired German General, who served as Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, from 1991 to 1996, and as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1996 to 1999, succeeding the British ...

became

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee The Chair of the NATO Military Committee (CMC) is the head of the NATO Military Committee, which advises the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on military policy and strategy. The CMC is the senior military spokesperson of the 32-nation alliance and pr ...

Bagger followed him as the Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr on 8 February 1996, a post he held till his retirement on 31 March 1999. Bagger lived at Meckenheim, was married and had two sons. One of them is the diplomat Thomas Bagger. Hartmut Bagger died on 26 January 2024, at the age of 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagger, Hartmut 1938 births 2024 deaths People from Braniewo Military personnel from East Prussia Bundeswehr generals Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders of the Legion of Honour Inspectors General of the Bundeswehr Generals of the German Army